The Church in Asia : Challenges and
Responses
NECF Secretary-General Wong Kim Kong presented a paper at a recent gathering of World
Evangelical Fellowship leaders in Cyprus

ECONOMICS,
demography, technology, the social and spiritual fabric of society, all are undergoing
foundational change at a rate almost too fast to follow," says Bryan L. Myres of
World Vision.
As a result, Asian nations in particular are groping for answers to the serious problems
of economic crises, political turmoil, religious and ethnic conflicts, moral decadence and
ecological abuse.
With such phenomena threatening human life and institutions, how is the Church, the
"ecclesia" of Jesus Christ, going to face these challenges in these end-times
and be God's agent to reconcile the Asian community with God and bring transformation
through the Gospel?
Asia has the largest number of people unreached by the gospel in the world. Hinduism,
Buddhism, Taoism and Islam have been experiencing a revival (and with a militant one as
seen in Indonesia and India in recent times) that has had a restraining impact on
sustenance of 'evangelical' church growth in some Asian nations, the prominent ones being
North Korea and the northern region of Vietnam, and Indonesia. Although Christianity in
Asia came in through St Thomas in AD 52, it was the Roman Catholic church that set foot as
way back as the 15th century, followed by Protestant churches in early 20th century. Yet
it is amazing to find that today only 7% of the Asian population is Christian. It is said
that 27 out of the 45 countries in Asia have a Christian population of less than 2% while
the others have less than 1%, the exception being the Philippines - 90%).

Restraining Factors in Church Growth
The dismal performance in Asian Church growth could be attributed to several causal
factors as below:

a) The stigma of imperialism that came alongside the
colonizing powers - British, Portuguese, Dutch, Americans, French and the like.

b) The colonial rulers were opposed to evangelism, their
priority being the economic and political advancement. This attitude frustrated efforts of
missionaries.

c) The lifestyles of those in the apex of the colonial
administration and the soldiers lacked moral standards and were repulsive to the locals.
As such Christianity could not be 'sold' easily.

d) The cultural overtones and 'westernism' and the lack
of customization of the new religion into the local cultural and social context did not
make Christianity appealing to the local population. No concerted efforts have been made
to study the local culture and lifestyle and this negative attitude on the part of the
colonial 'masters' has also contributed to the slow pace in church growth in Asia in
general. The fact that Asia is the stronghold of well-advanced classical religions -
Hinduism, Buddhism and Islam and that many came from tribal faiths and traditional
religions needed strategies that would enable the Christian faith to permeate into the web
of local societies.

e) In certain cases, converts have betrayed their calling
and through their complacency have done injustice to missionary efforts expended thus far.

f) Finally, there was the lack of understanding that
Asians have a "holistic view" of religion, meaning there is no separation
between the sacred and the secular. An example is Islam that brings all areas of life
under the control of religion. On the other hand, the Bible is not presented in this
manner that the believers of that faith have been accustomed to. Asians generally also
believe that there is no faith that is absolute and unique. Such belief rejects the
exclusive claims of Christianity that only through the Lord Jesus Christ one can go to
heaven.

Although the above-mentioned factors contributed to
making Christianity "offensive", social concern ministries and good works in the
form of social, welfare and infrastructure-oriented development programmes have endeared
some of the locals to the Christian faith to some extent.

The Turbulent Asian Scenario
The churches in Asia are a small entity in a vast continent overpopulated by multitudes of
people, most of whom are in dire poverty and plagued by severe socio-economic, political
and morality problems. Cambodia is dealing with the after-effects of genocide. India and
Pakistan are struggling with the Kashmir border issue. Secessionist demands related to
religious and ethnic differences in East Timur, Acheh in Indonesia, Tibet, Jaffna in Sri
Lanka and South Philippines further create turmoil to an already unstable environment.
Serious divergences in ideological beliefs have caused rifts in people's beliefs in
political systems and patronage in Taiwan, North and South Korea, Myanmar and Vietnam.
Economic crises have escalated through soaring inflation, food shortages and rampant
unemployment. Natural disasters such as earthquakes in Taiwan, the Philippines and
Indonesia and floods in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and the Philippines have accentuated
sufferings of peoples. The Asian churches have to press on under difficult and trying
socio-political and economic environments. Christianity in Asia is complex with great
divergence from one country to another in terms of ecclesiastical and theological
diversities. Let us examine how the churches have been able to complement and supplement
the needs of the peoples and the struggles faced in their efforts to bring their gospel to
the unsaved, the newly saved and the Christian community. These trying times have
certainly drawn God's people closer to God; they have also drawn others to seek help from
the 'gods' of their respective faiths. In this process of seeking there have been
multitudes that have to experience the saving grace of the Lord.

The Recent Phenomenal Church Growth
In terms of propagating the faith, church growth has been most phenomenal and encouraging
in Indonesia, South Korea and China where it has doubled to 75 million Christians in the
last two decades. The overall increase in the Asian Christian population, too, has doubled
in the same period. Simultaneously, areas that had been closed to evangelism have opened
their doors to the gospel. Cambodia, Nepal, Mongolia and South Vietnam have lifted
restrictions resulting in many being saved. Countries such as North Korea, Bhutan, Tibet
and Maldives have still not opened their doors to the gospel. Korea has evidenced
exemplary church growth with the largest churches from different denominations in the
world existing there. One particular church has 650,000 members.
At the same time cross-cultural missions have begun to take root in the wake of emerging
indigenous mission agencies. An estimated 25,000 nationals from Asia are serving in these
ministries, they being largely Filipino, Chinese, Korean and Indian missionaries.
Self-financing, and self-propagation has added more credibility to the local church that
earlier was very dependant on Western sources of funds. The charismatic movement is
becoming the in-thing in today's church growth. Affinity to the Bible is most encouraging.

Church Growth Undeterred by Sufferings and
Persecutions
In the midst of encouraging expansion of God's kingdom on earth, severe trials had to be
faced by churches operating in Cambodia, Vietnam, Nepal, Mongolia, Indonesia, China and
some Middle-East countries. Restrictions imposed by authorities made evangelism and church
planting difficult. As discussed earlier, although the political leadership in several
nations outwardly declared freedom of worship, and constitutional provisions in several of
them have allowed the practice of religions other than the official religion of the
countries concerned, the reality has been far from such declarations.
The preaching of the Gospel encountered problems varying in severity and magnitude from
one country to another. This trend was usually subtle though in some cases blatantly shown
as evidenced in the reluctance or refusal in recognizing the official existence of the
Church or church-related activities. In fact, there have been concerted attempts by
influential groups to bring back newly-converted Christians to their former faiths,
particularly to Hinduism and Buddhism, Sikhism and Islam. The conversion from Islam has
been declared to be even an act of apostasy - an offence that could be punishable with
death. There have been some converts who faced severe persecution by authorities as well
as family members. However, among them are those who have boldly stood up for their
newfound faith. Such fervour and godly love has been boldly demonstrated by newly
born-again Christians in other Asian countries and hailing from coming from other faiths,
including Sri Lanka, India, China, Indonesia and Thailand,
The bureaucratic wings of Government in several Asian countries have been largely
responsible for stifling church growth. A few countries such as North Korea are still
closed to the gospel. In spite of all these obstacles the church has experienced revival
and renewal as well as being purified and strengthened. Bible Training institutions have
continued to produce church workers to equip the existing and new churches. In fact, Asian
churches have become missionary-sending as envisioned by the Lausanne Movement.

The Challenges and Responses of the Asian Church

Confronting Caesars
Political exigency demands meeting the demands of local religious groups, the main ones
being Hindus, Buddhists and Muslims. These religious forces, with a high degree of
representation at the echelons of the Government decision-making machinery, have of late
made the Christian "advance" in reaching local communities with the gospel more
difficult. In some countries, the governing authorities become oppressive and suppressive
in their actions. Injustice becomes prevalent. The Church has a wide range of strategies
of response to this challenge, they being:-

The Church needs to present a biblical view on justice
and righteousness. The Christian politicians can assist in the development of practical
policy approaches and strategies to political issues. They should propose solutions, which
both seek to reform and, if necessary, replace institutions and practices that may have
adverse effects on the nation.

The Church must dare to articulate and proclaim the full
truth about the injustice and oppression in the face of powerful persons, pressures and
institutions, which profit by concealment of the truth. We must be willing to identify and
condemn social, political and institutionalised evil, especially when it becomes embedded
in systems of authority. Such recognition of hard truths is a first step towards the
freedom for which people wait.

There is need for global networking of churches and
evangelical Christians in sharing of insights and experiences related to socio-political,
religious and moral issues, dissemination of information, development of critical
approaches and strategic methods. Working closely with the Religious Liberty Commission of
WEF will certainly strengthen the solidarity of the evangelical presence and influence in
these restricted nations.

Positive networking with those in authority,
supplementing Government efforts in providing relief in kind and cash for emergencies and
the like can provide a good image that could help minimize opposition to church growth.

The Babylonian Pursuit
The Asian economic systems, which are influenced and dominated by western investments, are
increasingly revolving around free-market capitalism. There are inherent dangers in this
trend. This includes the development of a self-centred acquisitive mentality. The absence
of morality and ethical accountability on the part of the foreign investors will lead to
an exploitative and unscrupulous manipulation of market forces, as seen in the recent
economic turmoil in the Asian economy.

There is a need for concerted cooperation of the
international Christian business community to combat such domination and manipulation of
the money and stock markets. The Christian businessmen and the church must dare to
articulate and proclaim our convictions and provide necessary financial rescue
alternatives. By this, the true witness of justice and righteousness of Christ will be
seen by the skeptical world.

There is a need for a new conception of the notion of
human dignity, which is being denied. Economic innovations are usually dictated by an
unclear political strategy. This means restricting decision-making power to a very small
group of persons and bodies supposedly capable of dealing with all economic matters. What
we are seeing is something larger than discrimination against extremely poor or delinquent
population groups. What is taking shape is the deliberate exclusion of peoples, groups,
countries and regions of the world. The economic exploitation must be denounced and human
dignity must be restored.

The International Christian Chamber of Commerce, a track
of AD2000 and Beyond and its Asian and national arms in the respective countries could
rise up to not only assist Christian ventures, but could also work with national and
agencies such as APEC and other appropriate alliance groups to ensure maximum benefit for
nations concerned, in particular the disadvantaged small and medium-sized industries.

The Full Gospel Businessmen's Fellowship International
and its counter-parts at regional and national could also play a more proactive role to
get Christian businessmen together for mutual benefit as well as non-Christians to
fellowship, discuss and formulate mutually-beneficial ventures. At the same time these
forums could deliberate and assist evangelism and church planting programmes as well.

Widening Chasm
There is also the inequality in the distribution of benefits of economic growth. The
numerous forums initiated to address issues related to poverty and worldviews embedded in
different religions and cultures have merely scratched the surface.

There is much-needed representation of Christian leaders
in such forums at various levels of administration to voice out views to ensure
Christianity, as is the case of other major religions, also has its due place in academic
disciplines in universities and other institutions of learning and in development-related
forums.

The National Evangelical Fellowships and other similar
Christian organisations at national and Asian level have to work towards networking
(informal or otherwise) as a humble start. Christians have to be visible "Good
Samaritans" in their contributions to nation-building efforts and thereby earn
credibility in the eyes of the authorities.

Lust of the Eyes
Another hindrance is the obsessive concern with and pursuit of wealth, often at the
expense of values of society and the individual may become inevitable. the spiritual and
aesthetic. This has lead to an inevitable corruption of spiritual and moral values of
society and individuals.

The Church needs to be increasingly challenged to develop
a radical kind of Christianity that is willing to count the cost of discipleship,
stewardship and fulfil its mandate to be the "salt" of the earth and
"light" of the world.

The Church must develop "issue" studies and
engage in discussion with government, authorities and civic organisations in making
economic policies and legislation that will eradicate this disparity. If conventional
solutions no longer respond to today's problem, the Church needs to be pro-active in
facing the following challenges:

There is a need for continuous worldwide evangelical
response and articulation of this issue. The Church cannot remain silent. We must become
the advocates for the poor. There is a need for the development of international social
clauses that may elevate the condition.

There is a need for social and community development.
Social and community development is a precondition for a permanent economic development
and increases productivity and efficiency; better education strengthens competitiveness,
higher wages boost the purchasing power, just distribution of land among many people
increases productivity. The Church is called to continue to give mutual assistance, relief
and development projects. The goal of economy is to serve life, which means to enable a
decent development of the marginalised.

The Church must manifest the power of the Holy Spirit by
breaking the principality of economic materialism and individualism.

The Church must be seen in the promotion and practice of
economic sharing; exhibiting a deep sense of koinonia, diakonia and kerygma.

The people of God need to consider a radical change in
lifestyle pattern.

An effective involvement of the Church will requires also
a radical change in structure of the Church, corporate attitude of the Body and shape of
the mission of the Church.

The Golden Calf
There is a dire need for the church to shift away from this sorrowful state to become a
community that trusts God and desires for holiness that could bring about transformation
of Christians to be the "light" and "salt"of the earth - a Christian
witness that can endear non-believers to Christ.

As Asian Christians, it is increasingly becoming a trial
not to succumb to the psychological manipulations of material prosperity, so preva-lent in
the affluent west, of acquiring more and more and all the time feeling less and less
satisfied with life.

The Christian community has to guard against such
tendencies, which could seriously impair the witness of the church. Such lifestyle of over
indulgence can have a debilitating impact on the poorer countries of Asia.
The Church must pay heed to biblical warnings and injunctions against
covetousness (Mk 7:12; Lk 12:15; Eph.5:3; Heb.13:5).

The Church must rethink the values regarding the
believers' standard of living and promote more just acquisition and distribution of their
resources.

The Church has the responsibility to promote simple
lifestyle among her membership in order to contribute more generously to both relief and
development of needy people.

Cry of the Heart
The 'bread and butter' issue, being a really critical demands evangelism to be
concurrently pursued with good works. Providing relief assistance, food and medical
supplies, and other forms of help to farmers and other manual workers can certainly help
to somewhat alleviate problems associated with basic needs of the poor and need. Such
provisions will further help mission workers gain their confidence and thereby enable the
gospel to permeate into the society they are working with. The church has to have this
"Good Samaritan" burden to give for the sake of the poor, needy and the lost.

Thus the church has to be equipped in terms of capability
to address and move forward to face emerging needs of new dimensions and to address
critical urbanisation-related problems such as Aids/HIV, prostitution (also children),
child pregnancy, gangsterism, drug trade and abuse, child abuse and growing social ills -
aimless loitering and promiscuit among the youth population. Awareness programmes will
have to be expanded and intensified in order to combat these emerging problems. More
Christian social workers will have to be mobilised to complement and supplement ongoing
ministries by the church workers in these areas.

With modernisation of the peoples in the rural areas and
migration of rural workforce into towns and cities, the rural church has to be equipped to
handle the above-mentioned urban-related social ills before it is overtaken by events.
Exposure and experiential-learning training is much needed to prepare churches for both
'preventive' and 'curative' ministry. The migrant population too can benefit by
'preventive' knowledge that save them from becomes victims to such negative forces that
accompany development.

Though in Christian compassion and justice we have a
powerful antidote to oppressive poverty, yet these 'weapons' remain greatly underused. The
Church needs to re-think her social responsibility to cooperate with, and even in some
measure act as, agents of God's common grace in meeting this human predicament.

There is a need to mobilise the Christian human resource
in offering health care and medical development especially in the poorer countries where
the catastrophe is most prevalent. Christian Relief and Development Agencies need to
intensify and strengthen their support and involvement.

Global stewardship and sharing of resources become
paramount in our Christian concern. There is a need for re-distribution of God's harvest
in a more dynamic and biblical context.

The Church can play an important role in helping
indigenous initiative for transformation. There is a need for appropriate education
development, relevant technology and change of social structure.

Ideological Impediment
The political scenario indicates that now is the opportune moment for the churches in the
Communist land to be given the needed support and boost by the evangelical bodies and
other regional Christian organisations. This could indeed trigger off a take-off for the
church in the Communist countries. China's entry into the World Trade Organisation and
bilateral industrial ventures have made the climate more conducive for God's work to press
with a renewed vigor. The best should be made out of the relaxation that has come about in
imports and exports.

The Billiard Christian
Church congregations with large numbers warming the pews (and that too frequently on
Sundays only) have accounted for lethargy and complacency.

There arises, therefore, the urgency to bring about
revival and renewal as has recently been done through evangelistic at national levels in
Malaysia, Singapore and Hong Kong. Where such meetings have already taken place there is
need for more of them to keep the fire of revival already ignited to continue burning and
spread to neighbouring regions in accordance with God's end-times plan.

The Toothless Tiger
By and large the Christian community is insignificantly represented at national, regional
and local government levels of administration. Recently, there have been a few political
representatives elected to Government positions. Some Christians are also working among
the big government bureaucracies and in the private sector agencies. In matters affecting
the church, many are not well committed, equipped or bold enough to make representations
on behalf of the church. Only a strong conviction can move them.

Prayers are needed for more Christians to be brought into
Government agencies for the Christian witness to be felt and seen. Such informal
representation, that can allow Christians to be vital instruments of God, can open doors
for Christian inputs to be given in relation to government policies on religion and
practice. They can also be a blessing to the church in contributing advice and relevant
information in enhancing its role and propelling church growth in the countries concerned
in particular and the Asian church in general.

The national Christian bodies will have to brief them and
get the churches to provide prayer support for them to be given the love and a deep
conviction to be instruments of the church in their individual capacities. It is
compromise with non-Christian ways in us as God's vessels that ultimately lessens our
bargaining power.

Split Personalities
An unfortunate phenomena that has begun to adversely affect church growth is disunity and
skirmishes among Christian denominational grouping. This is noticeable not only in the
urban areas but more so in the frontier tribal zones where competitive evangelism efforts
are being pursued concurrently by various denominational churches as a soul-winning
strategy. These churches that are merely struggling could become more marginalised due to
dissension through relational problems - a cancer that can kill the church. Internal
strife between clergy and laity, competition and duplication of ministries among churches
(e.g. Bible colleges) are wasteful and discouraging to donors. However, regional and
national Christian organisations such as the Evangelical Fellowship of Asia, national
evangelical fellowships and national Christian entities have, through concerted
unity-centred efforts, generated inter-church harmony and unity via national events as
well as local pastors' fellowship activities.

Unification efforts have been more prominent in
Philippines, Malaysia, S. Korea and Singapore but more are desirable. However, the gaps
between the Roman Catholic Church, the mainline church and the evangelical church continue
to be latently as well as manifestly present. Deep theological and doctrinal divides will
therefore make unity of the churches a difficult thing to be achieved.

In order to improve working relationships among different
denomi-nations, it is vitally important, first, that we get to know one another. I believe
that we should take every opportunity of meeting together, engaging in dialogue with one
another, and courteously putting forward a truly biblical form of Christiani-ty. This is
not easy, as we move in very different constituen-cies. All the more reason why we should
make the effort! It is easiest for charismatics in their denominations to come together,
as they have a very great deal in common in terms of experience of the powerful working of
the Holy Spirit.

Next, we should be prepared to communicate openly with
members of other denominations. As Mr Boler, the former Chairman of NECF Malaysia once
said "We evangelicals do not know how to say the right things in the right
ways". If we are church leaders, we should make an effort to go to the pas-tors'
fellowship meetings. We should be prepared to listen, ask questions, look ignorant, and be
vulnerable to others' probing questions. Many are misinformed about each others'
intentions, and when they hear the facts they become much more gracious and accepting. We
have to learn to step outside mainstream denominational life. But whether people are
accepting or not, we have to learn to take the flak meekly, knowing that in doing so we
are sharing in the vulnerability of Christ himself. Any Christian could find himself in a
similar position. We can either react self-protectively or with an openness that is in
fact the only way to a greater depth of reality.

The Chamelion Deception
The emergence of cults and sects blinding further the unsaved, have to be arrested through
intercession and equipping the church with skills to use gifts of the Spirit. These powers
and principalities (Eph. 6:12) can be paralysed by the praying church.

The falsity and deception caused by cults and sects will
have to be confronted and exposed through publications that can generate further
discussion and dissemination of cautionary literature. Again there are substantial
evidence of victims whose plight could be made known openly as a counter strategy.

Skills in fathoming and applying Biblical authority
discerning God's Word need to be enhanced in both preachers and believers. Cultic
practices will have to be studied so that biblical provisions could be used to overcome
demonic powers through the armour of God.

The Awakening Lions
Apart from the emergence of cults and sects, the last decade also witnessed a resurgence
of all major religions - Islam, Hinduism, Buddhism and Taoism. As mentioned earlier,
religion-based party leaders have begun to influence political rulership as witnessed in
Malaysia and Indonesia recently. This trend is threatening to communities of other
religious faiths. The resurgence, consolidation and expansion of Islam are expected to
continue irrespective of whichever political party is in control. The Asian Church is
generally of the view that religious freedom (as is enshrined in many national
constitutions) is a pre-requisite for national harmony. The practice, however, is a far
cry from official proclamations. In fact of late religious proponents within ruling or
oppositions have demonstrated a greater fervour to ensure the political system rules the
nation concerned through religious tenets, which has caused fear and deep concern among
the followers of other faiths. The 'Ghandian' non-violence stance has over time given way
to open persecutions, mob violence, and hideous crimes including murders of significant
numbers of Christians and Muslims. Hindu fundamentalism is on the upward path and has
become closely affiliated to the political regime and has become a means of consolidating
power through inculcation of allegiance within the fabric of government and the
bureaucracy and other components of society. Such tendencies have led to further internal
religious confusion and tensions - latent and manifest.

How can the church respond to these challenges? Though
civilizational dialogues at national and regional levels have been convened, much remains
to be done to create a more permanent and stable climate that prevents religious clashes.
The reawakening of the major religions in Asia is an issue that is embedded with religion,
culture and ethnicity and other intrinsic values dearly held by the respective groups.
There is no standard formula to restore harmony. The efforts of inter-religious bodies
have been of minimal consequence. Underlying all these are the spiritual forces -
principalities and powers of darkness - that that the Church has to deal with through
fasting and prayer.

(vi) The church has to recognize that Christian mission
and evangelism is a spiritual and worldview warfare. The church has to recognise and equip
itself with the needed "spiritual professionalism" to deal with not only
multiple religious forms and meanings, but to boldly grapple with deeply embedded beliefs
and cultures.

Western influences have further contributed to build
impenetrable fortresses that bind the mind of billions of people. A host of influencing
factors that form the basis of the clash of worldview such as elitism, self-righteousness,
idolatory, moral stance, secularism, ethnocentrism, imperialism to name a few, have to be
understood and put into the context of core gospel values before new down-to-earth and
pragmatic approaches in evangelism could be looked into by the Asian church.
"Territorial spirits", it has been said, have continued to cement the doubts and
unbeliefs of these billions. Constant warfare is therefore is of paramount importance.

Any new approach would require a paradigm shift in terms
of looking at the worldviews. "Contextualisation of the Gospel and Christian theology
is a must."9 A deeper understanding and explication of the Gospel and theology is
needed to help meet the aspiration for "oneness' or "union" with God, or
"heaven" as expressed in theosophical Hinduism and Confucianism. In addition to
atone of sins the approach has to be tailored to the Eastern tradition of union with God
through life in Christ. This could also draw the potential New Age believers too to
Christ.

Pastors and church leaders need to be equipped to give
the answer to everyone who asks them the reason for the faith and hope they hold as in 1
Peter 3:15. The church cannot afford to withdraw in intimidation.

The indigenous population is sizeable in several Asian
nations (e.g. 57.7% in Malaysia). More effective networking and working in unity and
esprit de corps and less competition is a must recommended so that these communities can
see the unity and love of God's people and respond more favourably to mission agencies and
workers on the ground.

Titanic Assignment
Another central issue is the enormity of the Asian population that has yet to be reached
and brought to the saving grace of Christ. In terms of landmass it has one-fifth of the
total world area. Though development programmes have helped improve infrastructure and
transport facilities and reduce travelling time into the interior parts there are still
areas that are difficult to access and this is an ongoing problem to be reckoned with.
Asia has a predominantly huge rural population. This is a big challenge to the church
ministry of - in terms of communicating with about 3,000 ethnic communities spread over
vast expanse of landmass in the interior parts. This is further complicated by
missionaries having to equip themselves with ability to familiarise with and minister to
the enormous population that speak 2,000 different languages.

Though the church of today has greater capacity in terms
of church workers, facilities and responses as well as the capability - trained workers
and believers - to contact the unsaved people, there is room for expansion.
Communicability has a direct correlation with effectiveness in evangelistic ministry. This
area has not had much response and has made evangelism as well as the introduction of
social services, and other amenities an uphill and gradual process. Emphasis has to be
given to this problem, with a two prong approach, namely, (a) equipping locals as change
agents within the indigenous communities and (b) involving the church community more in
numerical terms.

Further the existing mission organisations such as Campus
Crusade for Christ, Overseas Missionary Fellowship, Operation Mobilisation and others need
to come together to plan a systematic evangelism programme to avoid wastage of funds,
personnel and time. Networking among denominational churches, relief agencies and church
planting organisations need to work together with national and regional evangelical bodies
such as Evangelical Fellowship of Asia.

The Unmeasured Asset
The evangelical leaders of Asia need to be equipped and trained to face and deal with many
modern issues of life and society of our nations. Under the tremendous pressure of
economic crisis, external influence and world-views, our evangelical response can be very
difficult and complex. The situation would require a complete re-orientation of thinking,
approach and strategy of the visionary leaders of churches today.

We believe that a visionary Christian leader makes the
transfer of leadership possible by nurturing and mentoring people who will accomplish more
than he will. It should be our desire to provide significant resources of education,
training and mentoring to facilitate future leaders' participation in ministries.
Leadership training models already exist. However, the shift necessary requires a firm
hand from the top down to change the systemic focus. Inertia is monumental. All efforts
must be supported by frequent sustainment training coupled with aggressive systemic
accountability checks and balances. The evangelical fellowship as a national body will
have to birth this initiative and to provide the following focus:

1. To facilitate the collection of resource materials and
development of skills.
2. To equip leaders for knowledge and skills acquisition and application.
3. To facilitate the communication and impartation of knowledge and skills to the
wider Body of Christ in each nation in particular and larger world in general.
4. To provide adequate mentoring, training and coaching of leaders.

In Conclusion
While having to face constraints in terms of limited finances, geographical vastness and
communication problems, illiteracy in local languages and dialects, shortage of labourers
in the midst of plentiful harvest of potential souls, political, ethnic and religious
impediments and a host of other challenges, the Church of Jesus Christ in Asia has to
press on to fulfil its three-prong mission of fulfilling Christ's Great Commission,
demonstrating God's love to the poor, lost and the needy, and preparing God's people for
the coming of the Lord.
The Church in Asia has to maximise opportunities, seek God and understand the times, be
willing to undergo a paradigm shift of worldviews on mission and evangelisation, maximise
cyber-age technology for God's glory and be proactive in its role in society.